Fruits Basket
by Princess of Miracles
Summary: I couldn't come up with a title for the story. Daisuke and Tohru are sisters who are welcomed into the home of the Sohma cousins, but at what cost? Drama, romance and dark secrets.
1. Chapter 1

"The Strangest Day"

**No flames, no complaints, no anything that is insulting! Please enjoy and review!**

In a forest was a faded yellow colored tent and a girl with long flowing dark brown hair dressed in a navy colored school uniform lifted the flap up, her teal eyes filled with awe at the beautiful day.

Inside of the tent was another girl who was still sleeping, her short mahogany hair fanned out around her head and her tanned face had a pink tint from the heat.

Giggling, the brunette lifted the flap as she walked out, letting the sunlight pour into the tent and in the face of the sleeping girl, making her whine in discomfort.

"Daisuke, it's time to wake up." the brunette sang.

"Mm, no. Sun bad. Sleep good." Daisuke groaned as she held her hand up to cover her eyes.

Giggling, the brunette kneeled down beside her sister and pulled her blanket off of her body making the girl's chocolate eyes glare up into the teal eyes.

"Tohru, isn't it too early to wake up?" Daisuke asked.

Tohru smiled as she picked up her sister's school uniform and held it out to her.

"School is going to start in an hour. It's time to wake up. Here, get changed." Tohru said.

Grumbling, Daisuke accepted the uniform and sat up while Tohru walked out of the tent, closing the flap as she let her sister get changed while she admired the sunny day.

"Look at that beautiful sky." She admired.

Hearing the flap open, Tohru turned back to see her sister dressed in the uniform and then both girls looked inside the tent, seeing a framed picture of a woman with short brown hair that was tinted orange and had a large mischievous grin on her face.

She was also giving the victory sign to the camera which always made the sister smile or laugh as they thought of the woman.

"See ya later, Mom. Take care of the house while we're gone." Tohru said.

"We love you." Daisuke smiled.

Closing the flap, the sisters then walked out through the forest, enjoying the peacefulness of nature and the fresh clean scent.

Daisuke and Tohru Honda used to live in the city with their mother, but last May the woman died and so the sisters began secretly living in a tent in the forest.

They didn't have enough money to pay for an apartment and didn't want to bother their friends by being placed in their homes, so they didn't tell them about their living arrangements.

As they walked on, they spotted an old Japanese styled house from the hill they were walking on.

"Look at this. Did you know there was a house here?" Tohru asked.

"No, that's kinda weird." Daisuke blinked.

Curiously, the sisters walked over to the house and inspected it as they saw the large size of it and also how there was a stone path to the doorway and a garden.

"How cute." Tohru said catching her sister's attention.

On the steps were figurines of 12 animals and the sisters looked them over.

"The twelve animals of the zodiac." Tohru said.

"I wonder who made them." Daisuke mused.

"My word." A male voice spoke.

Daisuke and Tohru looked up to see a man with black hair and gray eyes dressed in a kimono had walked over and was smiling down at the girls as he held the newspaper in his hands.

"Do my eyes deceive me or are there two strange girls standing on my porch?" the man asked.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! We were just looking! We didn't mean to barge in without permission." Tohru gasped as she jumped back behind her sister, startled.

"Yeah, sorry about that. We were just curious." Daisuke said offering an embarrassed smile as the man chuckled.

"It's alright. I just set them out to dry, no harm done, but I find it hard to believe that these silly little things could attract your interest." The man said kindly.

"No, I really like them. I don't think they're silly at all." Tohru smiled.

"Yes, well, I must admit, I'm particularly fond of them myself." The man said as he set the paper aside and kneeled down to look them over.

"Oh, but I should've known. You left out the cat." Tohru sighed.

"Well, not a lot of people know about it." Daisuke shrugged as the man grew interested.

"The cat? Ah, I take it you're referring to the old folktale of the Chinese zodiac." The man smiled.

"Uh huh. Our mom told it to us when we were little." Tohru said fondly.

When the two girls were younger, their mother had laid down beside them in their futon as she told them the story of how God decided to have a banquet and invited all of the animals to join in.

He sent out word for all of them to come to his house the following evening and not to be late.

When the mischievous rat heard the news, he decided to play a trick on his neighbor the cat and told the cat that the party was being held the day after tomorrow.

The very next day, all of the animals lined up for the celebration and the rat led the way riding all the way there on the back of the cow.

Everyone had a wonderful time, except for the poor cat who missed the whole thing and Tohru had cried for the cat while Daisuke frowned and said she didn't like the mean rat.

Tohru then stated that instead of being a dog, since she was born in the year of the dog, she would be a cat so the cat wouldn't be lonely.

Kyoko, their mother, and Daisuke both sweat dropped at the brunette's declaration.

"Funny. I wonder what he'll say when he hears he has a fan." The man smirked.

"What who will say?" Daisuke asked.

"Never mind. You were born in the year of the dog. Both of you. I knew there was something I liked about you. I mean, aside from your pretty-"

Someone lifted up a school bag over the man's head and whacked him which made the man groan in pain while the sisters looked over to see the owner of the bag.

It was a pretty looking boy with dark violet colored eyes, pale skin and silvery gray hair that framed his face.

"Please forgive my cousin, Miss Hondas. He's a bit of a flirt, but he's harmless. In general, it's usually best to just ignore him." the boy said.

"Yuki Sohma!" Tohru gasped.

"Who?" Daisuke asked confused.

This made the other three people stare at the mahogany haired girl in surprise while she looked between them all, not understanding why they were surprised.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" she asked innocently.

The man then chuckled as he sat up properly.

"I'm surprised. Most girls know all about Yuki." The man said.

"Why is that?" Daisuke asked.

"Daisuke, Yuki is known as the prince of our school." Tohru whispered to her.

"Oh, you mean the pretty boy with the psycho fan club!" Daisuke realized.

Yuki seemed to blush at this while Tohru laughed nervously and the black haired man laughed whole heartedly.

"You could say that. By the way, Yuki, what do you have in that bag? A dictionary?" the man asked.

"No, I have two of them." Yuki said.

"So, you two are Yuki's classmates from school? Let's start again. I'm Shigure, his older and much less violent cousin." The man held his hand up in greeting.

"Hi, it's very nice to meet you." Tohru greeted.

"Hey." Daisuke waved.

"And what brings you to our home this morning, Miss Hondas?" Yuki asked as he slung his backpack on.

"Well, you know, we live nearby." Tohru said nervously gaining the interest of the two males.

"You do? Where at?" Yuki asked.

"Uh, right." Tohru blushed.

The males went silent as they were confused and Daisuke cleared her throat.

"We should probably get to school. I really don't want to get a detention for being late." She said and linked her arm with her sister.

"Wait, Miss Hondas. Since you're here, why don't we walk together?" Yuki offered.

This made the girls freeze as they turned back, both unsure of how to answer since the request stunned them.

"Um, sure." Daisuke said.

(At the school…)

"So, what's going on with you and Yuki?" Hikari Yagami asked.

The brunette with cherry colored eyes sat down in her desk next to Daisuke while a boy with blonde hair, peach toned skin and azure eyes leaned on her desk.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Daisuke asked.

"Some students saw you and your sister walking to school with Yuki Sohma. Everyone's talking about it." Takeru Takaishi informed.

"People are talking about that? Geez, they need to get a life." Daisuke groaned making Hikari giggle.

"The Prince Yuki fan club won't be too happy about this. I'd be careful. They might try to ambush you or your sister if you're not careful." The brunette warned.

"Thanks, Hikari. As if I wasn't already worried." Daisuke quipped.

"At least you can take care of yourself. I feel sorry for whatever fan brat messes with you." Takeru laughed.

The bell then rang as the teacher walked into the room, Tohru running in with her friends and they quickly took their seats.

The day then went on as usual with the Honda sisters spending time with their own group of friends and then they met up at lunch to eat.

Daisuke was sitting on the bleachers as she shared a bento with Hikari and the brunette's brother Taichi Yagami had met up with them to talk.

"So what's the deal with you and that Sohma kid?" Taichi asked as he held his soda can.

"Will everyone get over that?" Daisuke growled.

"It does seem strange though." Saki Hanajima (known as Hana to her friends) mused in her cynical way.

"Yeah, how did you two wind up walking to school with the Prince?" Arisa Uotani (nicknamed Uo) asked.

"We just ran into him on our way to school and he offered to walk with us since we were heading in the same direction." Tohru explained.

"How are you doing at your jobs? I know you have to pay for your tuition." Hikari changed the subject.

"We're doing fine, don't worry." Tohru held her hand up.

"I didn't think tuition cost so much. You two seem to be working more often than usual." Saki commented.

"You two aren't in any trouble, are you? Do you owe someone money? Is your grandfather taking your allowances?" Arisa demanded as she got close to a nervous Tohru's face.

"You're obsessing again." Daisuke told her.

"Sorry, I know I worry too much." Arisa sighed.

"If the girls needed help, they'd tell us. Stop worrying." Takeru smiled.

Tohru and Daisuke shared a look knowing that if Arisa found out the truth, she would kill them.

Their grandfather was actually Tohru's paternal grandfather and he was retired.

The girls lived with him and they decided to pay their own tuition and then their grandfather wanted to make some renovations on the house.

He decided to stay with his daughter and her family until they were done and asked the sisters if they had a friend they could stay with and they both told him they did.

Arisa lived in a one bedroom apartment, Saki had a large family, Hikari and Taichi were already sharing a bedroom and Takeru didn't have a lot of room with him and his mother.

The sisters thought that they would be in the way so they didn't bother asking and then Tohru came up with the idea of living in a tent in the woods.

Daisuke didn't want to tell her sister it was a dumb idea and point at all of the reasons it was a bad idea such as rain, wild animals and pedophiles creeping around, but she kept them to herself.

She didn't want to scare the girl and have her obsess over trying to protect them.

"Right, whatever. You're still coming for soccer, right?" Taichi asked Daisuke.

"I don't know. The players this year are pretty lame." Daisuke said.

"Ah, come on! What about me? You know you can't stand being away from good ol' Taichi! You love me too much!" Taichi smirked as he put the girl in a headlock.

"Taichi, knock it off!" she yelled as she tried to struggle out of his grip.

The others laughed at the behaviour, but then were shock when Daisuke pushed away and lost her balance on the bleachers and went falling off.

Everyone yelled in worry as they jumped up since the girl was sitting at the very top of the bleachers.

Thankfully, she was caught before she hit the ground by a male who was walking by and he cradled her in his arms.

"Daisuke, are you okay?" Takeru asked.

"I'm fine, Takeru." Daisuke looked up at him.

Then she saw that it was Yuki who had caught her and he had a stunned look on his face, almost as if he couldn't believe she was there.

"Hi." She chirped.

"Hello, Miss Honda." He said in disbelief.

Arisa, Saki, Tohru, Taichi, Takeru and Hikari watched as the gray haired boy stared down at the girl he held in his arms and it began to grow awkward.

"Uh, so thanks for the hand, but could you…put me down?" Daisuke asked.

Her question seemed to have snapped the boy out of his stupor as he appeared embarrassed.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry." Yuki blushed as he set the girl down on her feet.

His arms seemed to linger around her waist, as if hesitant to let her go, but then stepped away with a polite smile.

"You aren't hurt are you? That was a long fall." Yuki said in concern.

"I'm fine. I'm used to Taichi being rough with me." Daisuke smiled as she held her hands up.

Nodding at this, Yuki then turned and walked off.

"Have a good lunch then." he said with a smile and then walked off.

"Well, that was strange." Arisa narrowed her eyes.

Hikari then turned to her brother and whacked him upside the head.

"Ow, Hikari!" he whined.

"You're lucky Yuki was there to save Daisuke." She glared.

"You know, I think that was the first time I saw Yuki even touch a girl." Takeru held his chin in thought.

"What do you mean, Takeru?" Tohru asked as her sister climbed up and sat beside her.

"There was this incident a few years ago. I heard about it from my brother. When a girl tried to hug Yuki, he flinched away." Takeru said.

"I heard that he pushed the girl to the ground and ran off." Arisa told.

"Really? That's strange." Tohru said.

"Yuki Sohma…he has such strange electric currents around him." Saki mused as she went back to her lunch.

The black haired, gothic girl had claimed to be psychic and could read other people's energy waves and it frightened some people.

Daisuke and Tohru looked off in the direction Yuki had gone off in and were curious about the boy's odd behaviour.

(After school…)

The sisters had changed into their street shoes as they made their way to the exit when they spotted Yuki at his shoe locker and he looked at them.

"Oh, it's you. I mean, hi." Tohru said.

"It seems we're making a habit of bumping into each other." Yuki chuckled.

"Well, the second time was a good thing. Thanks again." Daisuke smiled.

"My pleasure." Yuki nodded, though confusion shone in his eyes.

Then, the trio wound up walking home together, unsure of what to say just like that morning when they had walked in uncomfortable silence.

"It was nice meeting your cousin this morning. He was funny. And those little zodiac figurines he made were really cute." Tohru complimented.

"Yes, but I thought I overheard you saying something about how you wish there was a year of the cat." Yuki said.

"It was something she wanted when she was a kid. She just felt sorry for him because he didn't get to go to the banquet." Daisuke explained.

"Cats. Useless, foolish creatures." Yuki spoke darkly.

This surprised the sisters when his tone suddenly changed.

"Tell me Miss Hondas, how familiar would you say you are with the history of the Chinese zodiac?" Yuki asked as they stopped walking, his bangs shadowing his eyes.

"I know the stories our mom used to tell us." Tohru said.

"Is there more to it?" Daisuke asked.

"Yes. Did you know that it was originally nothing more than a simple calendar? A mathematical system to mark the passage of time. Only later did people tend to use it for things like astrology and fortune telling." Yuki spoke.

"Oh. I guess the story about the animals isn't true then." Tohru said disappointed.

"No. I'm not really sure how or when the animals first came to represent the years, but I don't believe they were there from the beginning. What I do know is that no time in the history of the zodiac has the cat ever been included. So you see, the cat has been shunned from society for thousands of years, but as the story is told, it still yearns to be accepted. Like I say a truly foolish animal." Yuki insulted.

"Sounds like you really don't like cats." Tohru commented.

Yuki then turned back to the sisters with a grin that held a secret behind it and seemed to annoy Daisuke as she narrowed her eyes at him.

As the wind blew the leaves around the trio, Yuki caught a leaf and stepped up in front of Daisuke and held the leaf to her forehead, getting close to her face.

"I noticed it this morning that you're both starting to look a bit pale. You should really take better care of yourselves. Perhaps we'll bump into each other again tomorrow." Yuki said as he let the leaf flutter off and he pulled away from Daisuke.

"Wow, he really is mysterious." Tohru said as they watched him walk away.

"He's a pain in the ass. I don't see what the girls see in him. They're blind." Daisuke scoffed as she stormed off.

"Ah, wait up!" Tohru called.

Daisuke's face was turning red from the proximity that she was in with the boy and she wanted to forget it.

When they got to their job, the sisters changed into their janitor clothing and started working by taking out the trash for the business building and washing the floors and windows.

By the time they got home, the girls were dead tired, Daisuke carrying Tohru back to their home on her back through the forest.

She reached the tent and placed her sister down inside, then sat down as she listened to Tohru greet the picture of their mother.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Daisuke turned to see Shigure and Yuki staring at her as Tohru crawled out, both sisters stunned to see the males.

They were silent until Shigure then started laughing as he pointed at the girls.

"Shigure, don't you think you're overdoing it?" Yuki asked as he saw Tohru was embarrassed and Daisuke held a fist up as their faces both burned red.

(At the Sohma house…)

Shigure was still snickering while Daisuke was trying to hold herself back from punching the 27 year old as the four of them sat at the small table.

"So you've been living in that tent?" Yuki asked.

"Uh huh." Tohru nodded.

"For how long?" Yuki asked.

"I don't know, just over a week." Tohru answered.

"Would you shut up already!" Daisuke yelled at Shigure who was still laughing.

"Well, that explains it. All of this land is Sohma property. It seemed odd that we suddenly have a new neighbor." Yuki said.

"I'm sorry, but please, can't we stay there a little while longer? It's only for a few more weeks, then we'll go. We don't have much money, but we'll pay you." Tohru begged.

"We don't have anywhere else to go. Please, we just need to stay for a few more weeks." Daisuke gave a pleading look.

Both sisters' large Bambi eyes were sparkling with tears as they had blushes on their faces.

"Those woods aren't too safe. We've got wild animals, landslides, the occasional weirdo browsing around. It's not a good idea for two young girls to be living out there alone." Shigure commented as he finally regained control over his laughter.

"So, you're done laughing?" Yuki asked.

"Don't you worry about us. We're already used to all of the bugs." Tohru said as Daisuke's eyes drooped shut.

She then moaned slightly as she leaned forward making everyone look at her.

"Ah, Daisuke, what's wrong?" Tohru asked her sister.

"I just feel…a little tired." The mahogany haired girl said softly.

"A fever." Yuki said as he moved over to the girl and pulled her into his arms hesitantly.

Shigure's dark gray eyes were filled with wonder and shock as he watched this.

"Oh no. Daisuke!" Tohru gasped when her sister fell asleep.

"I'll get ice! It's…" Shigure trailed off as he open the shougi doors to reveal trash bags in the kitchen were piled around hiding the stove, fridge and other kitchen appliances.

"Huh and you call the woods unsafe?" Tohru commented.

Yuki blushed in embarrassment as he stood up with a sleeping Daisuke clinging to him, craving for warmth.

She had worked a lot that day and was especially tired from carrying her sister all the way home.

"Relatively speaking…" Shigure grinned, then grew serious as he heard a wolf howling.

"There, you hear that? There's just been another landslide somewhere." Shigure said.

"Really? But how do you know that?" Tohru asked.

"Hmm, I guess you could say it's instinct." Shigure said as Yuki had a stern look.

"Was it close?" Yuki asked as he set Daisuke down and took out a medical kit.

"Close to the tent-I mean nothing at all!" Shigure sang.

Tohru then ran outside making the cousins share a look as they then ran outside after her, leaving Daisuke alone as she slept on peacefully.

(The next day…)

The morning sun shone into the room where the sisters were sleeping, the mahogany haired one waking up first and was curious to find Tohru sleeping in a futon beside her.

Standing up, Daisuke walked out of the room curiously and found Yuki holding a bag.

"What happened?" she asked making him turn towards her.

"There was a landslide. I'm afraid your and Tohru's home was buried. I went back for your things." Yuki said as he held out the picture of Kyoko Honda, the girls' mother.

"Thanks. Tohru will be happy to see this." Daisuke accepted it with a smile.

"Aren't you?" Yuki asked curiously.

"Yeah, but this means more to Tohru. Mom's smiling face is what she deserves to see when she wakes up." Daisuke walked back into the room.

Yuki watched her with a concerned look as he watched her walk off into the room and set the picture down in front of her sleeping sister.

Stretching out, the mahogany haired girl took notice that she was changed into a white kimono and she then walked outside, enjoying the fresh morning air.

She settled down under a tree and relaxed, a smile gracing her features as she enjoyed the warm weather with the cool breeze.

From her place, she could see her sister was awake and talking with Yuki and Shigure, talking about something that seemed to frazzle the independent brunette.

Turning towards the mahogany haired girl, Yuki smiled as he handed one of the bags to Shigure and then walked over to the girl.

"I hope you don't mind, but you and your sister will be living with us for now. Tohru agreed to do so as long as you both do the chores." Yuki said.

"Sounds fair. Thanks for the help. You're sure it won't bug you to have two strangers living with you?" Daisuke asked.

"Not at all. It wouldn't be right to leave you when we can easily help you in any way. Now, come along. You can freshen up and then I'll show you to your room." Yuki smiled as he held a hand out to the girl.

Hesitantly, she took his paler hand and he pulled her up onto her feet with ease and then led her back to the house.

After showering, the sisters borrowed some of Yuki's clothing while theirs were being washed.

He showed them to the spare room and opened the window to air the room out.

"I do apologize for the smell. We've had this room closed off for some time." Yuki said as a cracking sound came from the roof making the sisters look up.

"It's probably bets to keep the windows opened for a while." Yuki said.

Something then seemed to crash through the roof and the creature that did so landed in front of the girls, not seeming to notice them as Yuki turned with a glare as the dust and debris faded.

"What the hell?" Daisuke muttered as Tohru clung to her.

In front of them was a tanned male with orange hair and burgundy eyes who had his back to the sisters as he stood up, smirking at the gray haired male.

"Yo, time to pay the pied piper rat boy. I'm here to collect." The orangette said as he rubbed his shoulder.

"Funny, I would have thought he'd send somebody bigger." Yuki smirked as he casually leaned against the window sill.

"That's right. You better get your tough talk out of the way while you can 'cause I'm about to wipe that stupid little smirk right off your face!" the orangette charged at Yuki.

"Oh, wait, stop! Don't fight!" Tohru ran forward to stop him, but slipped on a piece of wood and landed on the orangette, her arms wrapping around him to steady herself.

Both males appeared horrified by what happened and then the orangette was covered in orange smoke as he suddenly disappeared and only his clothing were left over as Tohru landed on the ground.

"Where did that guy go?" Daisuke asked as she stood next to Yuki.

"Yuukii!" Shigure sang as he poked his head in.

"What were all those crashing sounds I just heard? Kyo's not here is he?" he asked.

"I'm so sorry! Are you all right? I-"

Tohru stopped her ranting of apologies when she found she had an orange cat in her hands

Everyone was silent and then Tohru shrieked.

"Ah, I turned him into a cat! I am so sorry! I don't know what happened!" Tohru yelled.

"Uh, excuse me?" Shigure called nervously.

"How can you turn someone into a cat?" Daisuke asked confused.

"Hurry, we need to get him to a doctor right away!" Thoru yelled as she stood up and a piece of wood fell onto her head.

"Ah, Tohru!" Daisuke gasped.

Her sister then fell on top of Yuki and Shigure, the two males being covered in pink and blue smoke, a black dog and light gray rat being left in their places.

Tohru then fainted from shock, her sister catching her as she stared at the three animals in confusion, then groaned in disbelief at the way her life was turning out.

"We should've stayed in the forest." She whined.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

"The Sohma Curse"

**Sorry for the wait. Please enjoy and review!**

Kneeling down by the unconscious brunette's side, the tanned girl looked her sister over to make sure she didn't hit her head when she fainted.

"Tohru, time to wake up." Daisuke called down to her sister and lightly slapped her cheek to wake up the brunette.

Groaning, large teal colored eyes opened to see her concerned looking sister peering down at her with a rat sitting on her shoulder.

"Daisuke? Oh, I had such a strange dream. Yuki, Shigure and this other boy turned into animals." Tohru said as she sat up.

"Actually, that did happen." A black husky spoke up as he poked his head out from behind Daisuke's back.

Tohru looked at the dog, the orange cat next to him and then to the rat sitting on her sister's shoulder.

"Hello, Miss Honda." Yuki greeted.

Blinking curiously at the talking animals, Tohru then screamed making the animals and the mahogany haired girl wince at the shrill sound.

"Call a doctor! Or a vet! Anybody! Daisuke, we've gotta do something!" Tohru shrieked as she held the cat and started shaking him.

Groaning at her sister's panic attack, Daisuke lifted her hand up and slapped Tohru across the face making the three animals gasp in shock.

Dropping the cat, Tohru placed a hand over her red cheek as she looked at her sister.

"Sorry, but I had to stop you before you passed out again." Daisuke apologized.

"Oh, sorry." The brunette sighed as she slumped forward, now calm.

"Damn it, how am I supposed to come up with an excuse if both of you transformed too?!" the cat yowled making the sisters look at him.

He was crouched down with the hair standing on his back while his tail was straight up in the air as the silver colored rat glared down at him.

"Don't you dare try to blame this on us you stupid cat!" the rat pointed at the orange cat.

"Go ahead! Say that again!" Kyo warned.

"Stupid…cat." Yuki repeated slowly to taunt him.

"Why you little….!" Kyo yowled.

"Cut it out, both of you!" the dog barked making them jump.

"Anyway, it's too late for excuses. We might as well tell them the truth. Tohru, Daisuke, I'm a dog. Yuki here, he's a rat. That's Kyo. Don't let his temper scare you. He has a bit of a chip on his shoulder." Shigure said.

"So, you telling us that the zodiac legend was fake was really all a lie." Daisuke crossed her arms as she looked at the rat on her shoulder.

Yuki nodded his head at the girl who glared down at him.

"Yes. Our family has lived with this curse for generations. We transform into the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac." Shigure explained.

Kyo glanced over at him with a glare.

"Sorry. The 12 animals, plus the cat. Anyway, whenever our bodies under come a great deal of stress or when we're hugged by a member of the opposite sex, we transform. After a little while, we change back, but the thing is, uh…" Shigure trailed off.

Purple, blue and orange smoke then filled the room as the animals seemed to transform back to humans.

"We're naked." Shigure said.

Seeing the three males topless and with the smoke covering their lower regions, the sisters shrieked as they turned their backs on the cousins, running into the other room.

(After…)

The cousins put their clothes back on and went to the living room where the shogi doors opened up to sit and discuss the curse further.

"We must seem pretty strange to you at this point, huh?" Shigure asked with a smile.

"But it's not your fault if your family's cursed. But wait a minute! Yuki hugged Daisuke before! Twice and he didn't transform!" Tohru exclaimed.

"What! Are you serious?" Kyo turned back to the group, shock and disbelief in his wine colored eyes.

Smiling, Shigure stood up and walked over to Daisuke and pulled her into a hug, everyone waiting for him to transform, but he didn't.

"See? No transformation! But why is that?" Tohru asked.

"We're not sure. We've never seen something like this before." Yuki said as he sent a glare towards Shigure and Daisuke looked annoyed that the man hadn't let her go yet.

"Yes, quite a strange event. Kyo, why don't you test it out?" Shigure suggested.

"Excuse me? I'm not a toy!" Daisuke yelled as she was pushed over to Kyo, the two teenagers falling to the ground, the orangette holding the girl around the waist.

"Shigure, what the hell!" Kyo sat up and yelled.

"Are you asking for a beating?" Daisuke yelled as she glared at the grinning twenty-seven year old.

"Fascinating indeed. I wonder how that is possible." Shigure mused as he held his chin.

Kyo and Daisuke both sat beside each other, though the male was facing the garden outside while Tohru stared at her sister and the cat boy with curiosity and Yuki had a thoughtful look on his face.

"Does that mean there's something wrong with me?" the chocolate eyed girl asked.

"We turn into animals and you think there's something wrong with you?" Yuki asked in amusement.

Daisuke pouted with a blush at the teasing and she stuck her tongue out at the rat boy making him smile as he turned back to Tohru as she seemed deep in thought.

"Tohru, didn't you say you used to wish you could be a cat?" Shigure whispered.

"Uh, yeah. Uh huh." Tohru nodded.

"How do you like seeing the real thing?" Shigure pointed at Kyo.

Looking over at Kyo, Tohru smiled excitedly as her teal eyes grew wide.

"Yes, it's hard to believe, I know. I agree the phrase catlike reflexes doesn't really apply to him and all that, but he's a cat. Albeit clumsier than most. Surprising really considering the amount of time martial arts training he had. I'm sure he'd tell ya the same thing himself if he wasn't so busy brooding like a child." Shigure said.

Having heard enough, Kyo shot to his feet and growled in annoyance.

"Will you shut up?! I told you it's not my fault! If you wanna blame somebody, blame her!" Kyo pointed at Tohru.

"She shouldn't even be here. In fact, neither of these girls should be here!" He ranted.

Tohru looked a bit sad for being a nuisance while Daisuke glared at him, her fist shaking as she tried to calm herself before she lost control of her temper.

"Leave them out of this." Yuki said making Kyo glare over in his direction.

"Who we choose to allow into this house is really none of your concern. You're the one who doesn't belong here." Yuki narrowed his eyes at the orangette as he brushed his bangs out of his face.

Shaking in supressed anger, Kyo growled as he punched the table making it break in half and it lifted up, hitting Tohru's forehead lightly.

"Tohru!" Daisuke gasped as she quickly jumped to her feet and ran over to her sister to check on her.

Kyo looked shocked for what he had done while Daisuke stared into Tohru's stunned face and brushed her brown bangs back.

She sighed in relief seeing there was only a tiny bump on her forehead that would fade soon enough, but she had a thin line of blood trickling down.

"Oh, Tohru. You're bleeding." Shigure commented.

Yuki then stood up and slapped Kyo across the face making the sisters gasp at the sudden show of violence between the two family members.

"I knew that Kyo was reckless with his temper, but to act like this." Shigure handed a cloth over to the sisters to clean the blood.

"You're as stupid as ever and I'm going to prove it to you by giving you exactly what you want." Yuki said as he unbuttoned the first two buttons on his shirt.

Kyo was staring off to the side, his cheek red from the slap he had gotten.

"Only this time, I won't hold back." Yuki smirked softly.

"Okay, sissy boy!" Kyo yelled as he threw a punch at Yuki only for the silverette to dodge.

"Ah, Yuki!" Tohru called out in worry.

"What are they doing?" Daisuke asked.

"Don't worry. This goes back a lot further than today." Shigure said.

He turned Tohru's head towards him as he used chopsticks to dab a cotton swab with disinfectant on the girl's cut as they watched the fight.

"Those two do nothing but fight whenever they see each other." Shigure told them.

"But shouldn't we stop them?" Tohru asked as a Band-Aid was placed on her forehead.

"No, it's okay, it'll all be over in a second." Shigure turned to look at the boys.

Kyo continued to throw punches at Yuki who had a smirk on his face as he dodged the kicks and punches with ease, then appeared close in Kyo's face.

Stunned from the sudden proximity, it allowed Yuki to deliver a kick and send Kyo crashing through the doors and land in the yard.

"I told you I wouldn't hold back. You should have listened." Yuki stated.

"He sent him flying." Tohru deadpanned.

"That poor door." Daisuke sighed.

"Yuki, try not to destroy the house, okay?" Shigure requested.

"I really didn't mean to put him in the yard. But he should learn to keep his guard up." Yuki said as he looked over to the sisters.

"Miss Honda, you're hurt." He kneeled in front of the brunette.

"Oh, it's fine. Really, I'm okay!" Tohru waved her hands in front of her.

"He's not. I'm surprise he's not dead." Daisuke pointed at Kyo as he pushed himself up.

"The only thing he's bruised is his ego." Yuki commented.

"I'm guessing your dreams of being a cat are pretty much shattered at this point." Shigure said.

"Oh, I don't know. I wouldn't…" Tohru trailed off when she saw Kyo running away.

Daisuke felt sympathy for the boy since she was sure he was frustrated with himself for being humiliated.

"Say that." Tohru finished softly.

Sighing at this, Daisuke stood making Yuki look over at her.

"Come on, we've got school." She called as she walked over to the bags to find her uniform.

"School?! Oh no, we're late!" Tohru shrieked as she ran over.

"I'm not so sure you wanna go in those uniforms." Shigure commented after the girls changed in the next room and ran out.

Looking down at themselves, they found their uniforms were dirtied from being dug out of the landslide last night.

"I don't know. It's not that bad. Maybe no one will notice." Tohru smiled.

"Are you nuts? Taichi and Uo are gonna freak." Daisuke told her sister.

"You're right, but we promised mom that we would go to school." Tohru reminded making the other girl sigh.

"All right, I won't stop you. A promise is a promise." Shigure said cheerfully as he held a hand up.

"Which reminds me. I will have to tell Akito about everything that's happened this morning." He held his chin in thought.

Yuki grew tense as he stared at Shigure, his eyes wide.

"You have to tell who?" Tohru asked.

"Oh, sorry. He's the head of the family." Shigure said.

"So I guess this Akito he must be someone really important, huh?" Tohru asked.

"Well, he is to us. And after all, I have to tell him about revealing the big Sohma family secret." Shigure joked.

"I don't like him. I don't know why, but I have a feeling I'm not gonna like him." Daisuke closed her eyes in thought as Yuki looked over at her.

"You won't." he whispered as he glared at the floor.

"We should really get to school." Tohru bowed politely and walked out the door, Daisuke following her.

(At school…)

"Thanks again for letting us use the washing machine." Tohru smiled as she hugged her clean uniform to herself.

Hikari, Uo and Hana walked with the sisters to the washing machine to clean the clothes, Tohru and Daisuke wearing their gym uniform which was a red sweater and jogging pants.

"Don't worry about it. By the way, how did you two get dirty?" Hikari asked.

Just then, a group of girls jumped in front of them and started cheering, spelling letters out of their bodies, declaring their love for Yuki.

They were the Yuki Sohma Fan Club.

"So, Miss Tohru, how come you've got dirty clothes? Did Prince Yuki give ya the ditch?" the girl with ponytails asked.

The three girls then laughed cruelly as Hikari frowned at them, then looked at her mahogany haired girl as she glared darkly at the girls.

Walking over to them, Daisuke punched the leader of the group in the face making her yelp as she fell to the ground.

"Unlike my sister and ii, you're trash. Get out of my face or I'll break yours. Okay?" Daisuke asked with a cheerful tone and smile.

This made the trio flinch back in fear and run off down the hall while Hana patted Tohru's shoulder at seeing her sister get violent.

"Good grief. Those girls give me a headache. Their prince doesn't show, so they have to bother someone. But why you I wonder." Uo mused as she brushed her hair back.

"Oh, uh, silly, silly. I better go change now." Tohru chuckled nervously.

"Calm down, Daisuke. They're gone now." Hikari hugged her childhood friend who was muttering darkly under her breath.

Both sisters went to go change, Hikari going with Daisuke to the empty classroom while Uo and Hana went with Tohru in the locker room.

"So, why were you with Yuki anyway?" Hikari asked.

"Promise you won't freak?" Daisuke requested as she stripped.

"Uh oh. This doesn't sound good. What happened?" Hikari asked as she sat on top of the dryer.

Knowing she would get yelled at, Daisuke turned to her friend dressed in her freshly washed uniform.

"Tohru's grandfather was having renovations done on the house and he's been staying with his daughter while Tohru and I were living in the woods. I got sick, then Yuki and his cousin found us and invited us to stay with them." She said rapidly, almost tripping over her words and praying Hikari didn't hear her properly.

The brunette was silent as she stared at her friend with wide cherry colored eyes, then she frowned at her.

"What? Do you have any idea how badly Taichi and Takeru will react to this? You know how protective they've become of you after what happened with your parents and sister." Hikari ranted.

Her eyes softened when she saw the other girl flinch at the mention of her family and regretted mentioning them.

Walking over to the girl, Hikari hugged her and Daisuke returned it, the brunette's vanilla scent being mixed with the mahogany haired girl's strawberry scent.

"I'm sorry, Dai-chan. I-I just worry about you." Hikari apologized.

"It's okay, Kari-chan. But I'm fine. Really, I am." Daisuke assured.

Pulling back, the two girls smiled at each other, Hikari brushing her friend's long bangs out of her face and to the side.

"If you're happy with living with the Sohmas, then I'm happy for you. But if they hurt you, I'll kill them." Hikari stated with a bright smile and a cheerful giggle.

This made Daisuke smile nervously as she sweat dropped feeling bad for Yuki, Shigure and Kyo in that moment.

Hikari may have been known as the Princess of Light, but she was still Taichi's little sister meaning she had a dark side like anyone else and could be violent if she wanted.

Hikari then walked out of the room to get to class while Daisuke packed her gym clothes in her bag, then walked out of the room.

"Hello, Miss Honda." She heard a familiar voice greet.

Looking up, she found Yuki leaning casually against the window as he grinned at her.

"It's Daisuke." She corrected.

"So, Miss Daisuke, did you tell your friends?" he asked.

"About your secret? No. About living with you? Only Hikari." She told him as she slung her bag over her shoulder.

Pushing himself off the window, he walked over to the girl who watched him feeling a bit wary as a strange new feeling bubbled in her chest.

"Why only Miss Yagami?" he asked.

"I trust her to not freak out. I mean, coming out and saying you were living in the woods and then got invited to live with a complete stranger would seem weird to people." Daisuke said as she forced back a blush.

"You seem to be close with her." He said.

"I'm not going to tell her or anyone else you're secret. It's not mine to tell. Do I look like one of those gossiping brats who stalk you?" she narrowed her eyes at him.

Suddenly, his hands shot out and slammed against the wall behind her head making her eyes go wide at how close he was standing to her.

His purple eyes looked so intense and beautiful to her as she stared up into them in awe and shock.

"I have no doubt that you and Miss Honda will keep our secret, but we may still end up erasing your memories." Yuki informed.

"E-Erase our memories?" she asked feeling stunned.

"It won't harm you. It's something like hypnotism. You'll simply forget everything you saw this morning. I know this because this isn't the first time someone has learned about us. It happened when I was seven years old. I was playing with other children in the garden behind our house. After that, we had to erase every one of those children's memories." Yuki said.

His arms then fell to his sides as he grew sad, a look on his face that showed he was deep in his memories.

Seeing him growing tense in depression, Daisuke wrapped her arms around him shocking him when he felt the soft and warm body press against his own.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that. Besides, I'm as much of a freak as you. Don't be so sad. You've got friends now." She said.

Pulling back, she smiled at him as she then turned and walked off, his eyes watching her but then she stopped and turned back to him.

"Oh, by the way. I don't care what Akito says or does. He can't control me. If he tries to erase my memories, I'll fight him off. And if he ever touches my sister, he'll regret it. I'm stronger than I look, especially when I have something to protect." Daisuke informed with a determined glow to her eyes.

With that, she turned and continued walking off as Yuki watched her, then a small smile slowly crept onto his face as he felt worry for the girl.

"I hope you can protect yourself better than I can, Miss Daisuke." He said as he then returned to class.

(Later on…)

"I'm back." Yuki called as he opened the front door.

"Hello, we're home from school." Tohru said as she walked inside.

"Where is everyone?" Daisuke asked.

Walking over to the office near the stairs, he slid the door opened to search for his cousin.

"Shigure? He must have gone out." Yuki said.

"I'm gonna go put away my bag." Tohru informed.

"Okay." Yuki glanced over at the sisters.

"Do you think Kyo is still here?" Daisuke asked as Tohru ran up the stairs.

"If he is, he better be fixing the roof." Yuki glared.

"Then you shouldn't you be fixing the door?" Daisuke smirked as she walked into the kitchen.

He smirked at her as they heard the door then open and saw Shigure rush up the stairs since he hadn't seen them behind the stairs.

"Hello! Kyo, Daisuke, Yuki, Tohru! Are you here? Kyo, I hope you're not doing something stupid and tearing up my house again!" Shigure's voice called.

There was then a sound of a door slamming which made Yuki and Daisuke share a look as they walked out to see Tohru walking down the stairs with Shigure.

"Come on, I have something to tell you." he nodded.

They walked into the living room and sat down at the table, the teenagers looking up at the man.

"I had a little talk with Akito today. He's decided that as long as you can keep our secret, you two can stay here." Shigure reported.

"Good. So then there's no punishment?" Tohru asked.

"Punishment? Why would we-? You could keep the secret?" Shigure asked.

"Yes." Tohru smiled as she clasped her hands.

"We promise not to tell anyone without your permission." Daisuke nodded.

Standing up, the girl then walked over to the entrance way.

"I'm going to get dinner started." She called over her shoulder.

"Uh, Daisuke, I would go in there if I were you." Shigure sang.

A scream was then heard making the Sohmas sigh while Tohru was confused about what her sister had seen.

"You people are disgusting!" they heard the girl yell.

She was standing in the middle of a kitchen that resembled a garbage dump with dirty plates in the sink, rotten fruits on the ground and table, the counters had grime between them and there were trash bags all around.

Groaning in disbelief, Daisuke ran her hand through her hair at the sight of the filthy room and shook her head in disbelief.

Yuki then walked into the room behind her and sweat dropped as he saw the full extent of the room.

"I suppose it does look bad." He blushed in embarrassment.

"I'm surprised you're not pigs. This place looks like it's housing one." The girl commented.

"Sorry for the mess. I suppose we won't be eating tonight." Yuki said.

"No, I'm gonna be spending the night cleaning. I'm killing you guys in the morning though." She glared at him making him chuckle lightly.

"I'll help if you want." He offered.

"Nah, I'm good. Just make sure Tohru goes to bed. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a battle to win." She grinned.

He nodded, turning his back to walk out of the room, but he paused as he turned back to see her slip on some rubber gloves and then she started picking through the garbage.

She clicked her tongue when she separated the cans and plastic for recycling and even some old rotten fruit for compost.

Yuki smiled at her as he walked out of the room, ready to go to bed and prayed the girl wouldn't be found dead in the morning buried under the trash.

"What the hell was I thinking?" Daisuke whined as she dragged six garbage bags outside.

Agreeing to clean alone wasn't a smart move, but she didn't want to inconvenience her sister since she already works too hard.

Grunting, she throw the bags out onto the front yard and in the trash cans, she walked back into the house, unaware of someone with wine colored eyes watching her from the roof.

After six hours of going through the trash to separate the recyclables and then washing the kitchen and plates, Daisuke took a shower and walked into the room she was sharing with her sister.

The hole in the roof had a tarp covering it, Kyo's handiwork, which made her sigh in relief that there would be no insects or bats getting inside.

Walking over to her bed, she got under the covers and stretched out, relaxing as she closed her eyes as she tried to calm her body down from the day.

Thank goodness it was the weekend so she would get to relax.

Turning over, she opened her eyes to see her sister was sleeping with a smile on her face which made the mahogany haired girl smile softly at her.

Closing her eyes, Daisuke allowed herself to fall asleep at last.

To be continued…


End file.
